PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

BOOKS.

Commercial Statistics. A Digest of the Productive Resources, Commercial Legislation, Customs, Tariffs, Navigation, Port, and Quarantine Laws and Charges, Shipping, Imports and Exports, and the Monies, Weights, and Measures, of all Nations; including all British Commercial Treaties with Foreign States. Collected from Authentic Records, and consolidated with especial reference to British and Foreign Products, Trade, and Navigation. By John Macgregor, Author of " British America," and one of the Joint Secretaries of the Board of Trade. In four volumes. Volume IIL Discourses by the late Archibald Bennie, D.D., F.R.S.E., Minister of Lady Yester's Church, Edinburgh, and one of the Deans of the Chapel RoyaL To which is prefixed a Memoir of the Author. Popery Subversive of Christianity. Six Sermons, by the Reverend W. G- Cookesley, M.A., one of the Assistant Masters of Eton College.

New Brunswick; with Notes for Emigrants. Comprehending the early His- tory, an Account of the Indians, settlement, topography, statistics, com- merce, timber, manufactures, agriculture, fisheries, geology, natural his- tory, social and political state, immigrants, and contemplated railways of that Province. By Abraham Gesner, Esq., Surgeon, Fellow of the Geo- logical Society of London, &c. Gesner was employed for five years by the Government of New Brunswick in making a geological survey of the province. The results of his scientific la- bours were published by the Colonial Legislature: the observations on the cli- mate, topography, and resources of the country, as well as upon the habits and character of its inhabitants, which his employment furnished him with the oppor- tunities of making, the surveyor has embodied in the present volume. To his own more original matter Mr. Gesner has added a history of the province; an account of the native Indians; a view of the social, religions, and political state of the people; with a sketch of the geology, mineralogy, and natural history of New Brunswick, and some "Notes for Emigrants." The form and arrangement of the book is that of the geographical and statis- tical account, which has now become common, from the number of colonies and countries to which it has been applied. The volume itself partakes somewhat of the character of compilation?. partly because such subjects as Mr. Gesner mainly handles naturally fall into that style of treatment, since in all that relates to his- tory, geography, topography, and statistics, much if not all must be derived from authorities; partly because his mind seems devoid of the animation to present with vividness what he has seen. At the same time, many original remarks are scattered through the descriptions; and the chapters on the agriculture and topo- graphy of the province will be found to contain a good deal of fresh matter. The "Notes for Emigrants" are rather sensible in their details than attractive in their generals: indeed, New Brunswick does not appear to be so promisinp; for emigra- tion purposes as several other colonies. To those who want information re- specting New Brunswick, Mr. Gesner's volume will be useful from its fulness and completeness; but beyond this the work has no remarkable character.] The Thousand and One Nights; or the Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Translated and Arranged for Family Reading, with Explanatory Notes, by E. W. Lane, Esq. Second edition. Illustrated with six hundred Wood- cats by Harvey, and Illuminated Titles by Owen Jones. In three volumes. [This is a reErai;of the Arabian Nights as translated by Mr. Edward Lane, but with some c es. We observe that the publisher is no longer Mr. Charles Knight, but Mr. ohn Murray. The four volumes are comprft.s.ed into three, of a smaller and more portable size. Part of the saving is in the margin and blank spaces; and the illustrative wood-cuts are the same, with some few omissions. A more serious omission is that of the explanatory notes. Another freedom has been taken with Mr. Lane's text: the spelling of proper names and the names of articles peculiar to the East has been altered; the orthography which he specially devised peculiar abandoned, and the old forms borrowed from Galand's translation being for the most part restored. "The editors" state, that "this alteration of the text has been adopted without Mr. Lane's concurrence or knowledge." The result leaves the matter in a rather unsatisfactory state. Mr. Lane's orthography was very much in fault, not only because it was an innovation,. but because it was imperfect and uncertain in itself. His object—to convey Oriental sounds by a modified English orthography—is impracticable ; the standard sounds which he adopted were not in themselves determinate—for in- stance, he gives the o in " obey" as a sample of the "short" o; and his plan was encumbered by unfamiliar accents, and marks still more strange to the eye. On the other hand, the orthography borrowed from the earlier translator is even more improFer: it was devised with an equally impracticable purpose—to suggest the Oriental sounds to the French reader; but it altogether misleads the English reader. For instanm, "Nomeddin " suggests to the Frenchman, who lays a passing emphasis on every syllable, something'like Mr. Lane's Noor-ed-Deep, and like the original Arabic; but, pronounced as we do it—"NiiraddIn"—the word bears noresem- blame to its original sound. To the Frenchman " Caliph," to an Englishman " Kaleef," suggest sounds tolerably similar. The restoration of the French ortho- graphy, therefore, perpetuates our Cockney mispronouncing of the, Oriental names. Moreover, the restoration is not complete: sometimes Mr. Lanes form of spelling is retained; so that this newest style is a jumble of the two. Theortho- graphy of Oriental words in English is in a state of very needless chaos. With all written languages, the best rule is to copy as closely as possible the original orthography, and to supply a key, if the case demand it, in the shape of an ex- planatory note: imitative orthographies are delusive; it being impossible to con- vey the sounds of one language by the character of another. Mr. Lane's plan was not satisfactory; Galand's was worse in itself, and totally unfit for an English reader.

Nor can we hold it at all justifiable to tamper with the text of a writer like Mr. Lane. But, having done so much, why not make the set complete, by restoring stories from the French version, which Lane omitted because the text was want- in his copy of the original?—that, for instance, of "Aladdin and the Wonder ful Lamp." In spite of these critical objections, we are free to confess that the new copy is likely to be a popular form of the immortal and ever-delightful book; being compact, freed from what many thought encumbrances, and handsomely put together.] The Emigrant; a Tale of Australia. By W. H. Leigh, Esq., Author of " Reconnoitering Voyages and Travels in South Australia, Cape of Good Hope, &c."

[The "Tale of Australia " is that of a young lady of family, who takes a voyage to Syduey in order to follow her betrothed,—a gentleman who has been convicted of a murder of which he is innocent, on circumstantial evidence. This absurdity, gross in itself, is rendered grosser by Mr. Leigh's notions of ladies and gentle- men, and his utter want of imaginative power. The story, however, forms but a small portion of the book; which is substantially a sort of dramatized account of a voyage to Australia, sketching the characters, dialogues, and doings of the pas- sengers on shipboard, with their expectations of colonial life, and the results of their emigration. The tone and manner is of the " free and easy" school; and the author seems to entertain a strong feeling against South Australia. The only passage of tolerable humour in the volume is a description of some emigrants walking from the landing-place up to Adelaide, guided by a party of Natives in purls naturalibus.]

Historical Charades. By the Author of " Letters from Madras." [Historical Charades is an agreeable and instructive little book, with an appear- ance of reality and nature about it, which juvenile publications do not always possess. The framework is a Christmas family party, the young people of which agree to act charades to beguile the dreary weather. A description, first of what an acted charade is—secondly, the various historical words pitched upon for per- formance, with an account of the performers success, and discussions connected with the historical :era of the different scenes—form the substance of the book. The whole is lively, various, and, for such a trifle, interesting.] Hudibras, by Samuel Butler; with Notes by the Reverend Treadway Rus- sell Nash, D.D. A new edition, Illustrated.

[The illustrations consist mostly of portraits representing the real persons alluded to in the satire, with a few viewsof places. They are executed in a style of en- &raving which has almost disappeared with other coarse and lax habits of the eighteenth century: it is so indifferent as to destroy faith even in a tolerable fidelity to originals. Among the faces most familiar to us, for instance, those of Charles the Second and Fairfax are quite misrepresented in the feeble perversions before us. The value of the edition lies in the numerous and informing notes.]

The Boy's Autumn Book—The Boy's Winter Book. Description of the Season, Scenery, Rural Life, and Country Amusements. By Thomas Mil- ler, Author of Beauties of the Country," &c. With Illustrations, en- graved on wood by Henry Vizetelly and others. (The Boy's Own Library.) [These two volumes on Autumn and Winter complete the cycle of the seasons. They contain the same intermixture of descriptions of scenery and animated na- ture, sketches of customs, tales, and poetry, as were found in the former volumes, done in Thomas Miller's wonted style. The illustrations are pretty and plentiful.] A Treatise on Diet and Regimen. By William Henry Robertson, M.D., Physician to the Buxton Bath Charity. Fourth edition; rewritten, and much enlarged. Part L digesting republication, in parts, of a book on the ever interesting subject of eating and 'gesting what we eat. The words "fourth edition" indicate that the treatment is attractive as well as the topics.] The Popes of Rome, their Church and State in the Sixteenth and Seven- teenth Centuries. By Leopold Ranke, Professor Extraordinary of History in the University of Berlin. Translated from the last German edition. With an Introductory Essay, by the Reverend J. H. Merle D'Anbigne, DJ)., Author of the History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, &c. Volume IL

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ILLUSTRATED WORKS.

Egypt and Nubia. From Drawings made on the spot, by David Roberts, RA.; with Historical Descriptions by William Brockedon, F.R.S. Lithographed by Louis Haghe. Part I. [Whatever faults severe criticism may find with Mr. Roberts's somewhat meretri- cious manner, it has the merit of being at once forcible and distinct, effective and intelligible. The first fascienhis of the present work is a favourable specimen: it presents not merely a series of effective designs, but conveys positive, tangible, and distinct impressions, like those which the real scenes would produce. The broad expanse of the running Nile, those exotic buildings the Pyramids growing in the distance like artificial geometrical mountains, the gigantic dolls of the ancient ecclesiastical art contrasted with the living energy of the human beings— are brought before the spectator with the vividness of reality, by a canning selec- tion of the most telling traits, with skilful treatment. Such pictures are real "illustrations"—they not only please and amuse, but inform; they extend the scope of positive knowledge. The work here commenced is in the larger size which is now in vogue, and is so conducive to a freer and better style of design; the paper is of the finest manufacture; and the typography is about the hand- somest that we ever saw. The first part contains seven prints,—" En- trance to the Great Temple of Aboo Simble, Nubia" (the ornamental title); " Pyramids of Geezeb, from the Nile "; " Slave-boat on the Nile—view looking towards the Pyramids of Dashour and Saccara;" " Pompey's Pillar;" "Remains of the Portico of the Temple of Kom Ombo"; "Temple of Tafa, in Nubia "; " The Great Temple of Aboo Simble, Nubia." In some of these views a slight variety of tint is introduced with much effect : the Temple of Kom Ombo, drawn in a light stone-colonred ink, is well thrown out by a blue tint for the sky; in the view of the Great Temple, the dull leaden sky, and a deepening of the yellowish tint for the sand, much enhance the force of the delineation. In the last print, the enormous idols that guard the entrance of the temple, with faces some sax feet high, are contrasted with the figures of real men, on the ground at the foot, or perched upon the rock by the sculptured shoulder.] The Polychromatic Ornament of Italy. By Edward Adams, Architect. Part I.

[Mr. Adams has caught the true spirit of art in Raphael's time. In those days, the greatest painters thought it no degradation to make a regular business of their craft, though they held it more sacred than our artists do from prostitution for mercenary purposes. You might order in a painter to paint your house— if you could pay his price; and he thought it no degradation: but he would have thought it a degradation to "paint down to the public taste." Nowadays, an artist is offended if you call his craft anything but a "profession"; house-painting is his opprobrium and aversion: but he will not take " too high a walk," because "high art" does not "pay," and he most "make the pot boil." Therefore, art with ns is limited to "profeasional " practice, and is not, as to originals, a manu- facture for popular use. Great artists—even passable artists—are no longer

house-painters; and all the art of daily life has degenerated to a low mechanism. All the Queen's Ministers and the Queen's husband cannot set art up again. Mr. Adams's interesting essay on the origin of the Raphaelesque atyle, or fanciful

, copy of the ancient grotesque," brief as it is, will give the English reader an in teresting glimpse of the different way in which affairs were conducted in the An gustan age of painting; and his beautiful coloured lithographs will furnish sam ples of the taste, the exquisite grace, the harmony, the brilliancy, the beauty, and the riches, which the real artist can fetch out of pigments that are a mere stain and a triviality in the hands of the common decorator. Mr. Adams proposes to extend the use of this suggestive and cheerful style into English houses.] The Pictorial Book of Ballads, Traditional and Romantic. With Intro- ductory Notices, Glossary, and Notes. Edited by J. S. Moore, Esq. First Series.

[A copious collection of ballads, many of them the standard of their kind, beginning with "Chevy Chase." The cuts—roughly printed—are by various bands, and of various degrees in merit; but upon the whole they are spirited. Some of the best are among those which have no artist's name affixed.]

NEW SERIAL.

The Imperial Dictionary, English, Technological, and Scientific; adapted to the present state of Literature, Science, and Art. Comprising all Words purely English, and the principal and most generally used Technical Terms; together with their Etymologies, and their Pronunciation accord- ing to the best authorities. Parts L and IL

[Substantially The Imperial Dictionary will be founded on Webster's; but to his addition of "ten thousand words" to Todd's Johnson, a farther addition will be made of "at least fifteen thousand words, terms, and phrases." These additions will consist of technical and scientific terms, new words that have grown into use, a few expressive Scotch words. and such foreign words and terms as are frequently met with in English authors. Diagrams and engravings on wood will frequently be inserted, in order to present a form to the eye when such a mode will "furnish clearer ideas than could be conveyed by verbal description." As we understand the prospectus, and the execution so far as it has gone, subjects will sometimes be described rather than defined; attention, it is said, will also be' paid to etymology, and to pronunciation, when there is any difficulty or peculiarity; authorities will be cited to exhibit the particular sense of words,—to settle or show a meaning, but not, it would appear, as a general rule; and the obsolete or other peculiar characters of words will be noted. The scientific terms, it is said, "have been revised by individuals of high standing in various departments of science and art"; but we do not observe the names of the editors and their collaboratears. The best features of the book appear to us to be its explanation of technical terms, whether scientific, professional, or mechanical, and the introduction of wood-cuts to exhibit an actual thing. The use of the cuts, however, is overdone, as if ornaments to the page were fully as much considered as utility. In such matters as heraldry, or architecture, a representation of the thing which the word represents impresses the idea upon the mind; but plants or animals, and still more a Roman archer under the definition of " Archer," seem to answer no other purpose than to please the vulgar eye.]